L'Émeraude Ville
by Queen Antigone
Summary: Enzo has an adventure he will never forget-one that teaches him what happiness and home really mean.


AN: Hello! This story is my first step into the world of long fanfiction. A big THANK YOU goes out to Claire, for all her encouragement. Please read and review, thank you! Enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own Reboot.  
  
Enzo took a hard right at Delphi Blvd. and almost fell down. He kept his balance, but a sharp pain shot through his ankle and he cried out. He didn't dare stop, however, in fact, he increased his speed, for as much as it hurt, he knew it would hurt more to be caught. Frisket, running beside him, looked up at Enzo at his outburst but kept going. Frisket, too, knew it was important to run as far as they could as fast as they could. Finally, after a few more sporadic turns, Enzo decided it was safe to stop. They made sure they had a way out, though, just in case their pursuers had managed to follow their pathless journey through Mainframe's inner city. "I think we lost them, Frisket," he said, panting, looking down at his fire- engine red hound. "Did he hurt you bad?," he asked as he bent down to look his beloved dog over. Frisket whined weakly and turned to show Enzo his right side, which was cut pretty deeply, courtesy of Megabyte's claws. Enzo winced and asked, "Do you think you can walk back to the Diner?" Frisket whined again but nodded. Enzo hugged the dog tenderly, then stood and said, "C'mon, Dot and Bob'll blast Megabyte into next week when they find out what he did you! Nobody messes with my dog and gets away with it!" On that determined note, they set off for the Diner.  
  
***  
  
At the Diner, Dot was sitting in a booth negotiating what looked like a business deal, judging from the vidwindows surrounding her. Bob was discussing something in a very serious tone with Phong. Enzo pushed his way through the vidwindows surrounding Dot and said, "Dot! Listen to what Megabyte did to Frisket! We were walking home as usual and suddenly Megabreath pulls up and his cronies try to grab Frisket but they miss, so Megabyte reached out to grab him and couldn't get him either but he slashed Frisket with his claws, see?" Enzo gestured down at Frisket (who was looking quite weak at this point)who turned to show Dot his cut and bleeding side. Dot sighed and said, "Take him over to Bob and Phong, they'll send a Med Team down here to fix Frisket right up, okay?" She turned back to her business associate and began negotiating again. "But, Dot," Enzo started again, "Listen to what Megabreath said! He said-" Dot cut him off, saying, "Enzo, please can this wait? This deal is very important." Enzo stood silent for a second, considering, then started again, "But, Dot, Megabyte said-" Again Dot cut him off, saying, "Enzo, please!" Again Enzo was silent, but this was important to him, so he decided to try one last time, "Dot, listen-", but apparently Dot had had enough of her brother, because she clamped a hand over his mouth and said very, very seriously, "Enzo. I. Said. Not. Now. Leave. Me. Alone. Or. You. Are. Grounded!" Enzo was willing to risk being grounded so he opened his mouth again, but Bob, who had been standing by listening for a bit, put his hand on Enzo's shoulder and said, "Enzo, I think you better listen to her. C'mon, I'll call a Med Team for Frisket, take him outside and wait for them." Enzo did so, reluctantly. After a minute or two, Bob joined him. Enzo again launched into his account of the attack. "Bob, did you hear what Megabyte did to Frisket? He tried to steal him from me and he sliced my poor dog really deep! Frisket could've been killed! And you know what he yelled as we were running away?" Without waiting for an answer, Enzo continued, "He yelled he'd find a way to get Frisket, it was only a matter of time! Then we ran and his sidekicks chased us but we lost them. All that running wasn't good for Frisket, though, look how awful he looks! Where's the Med Team? And what are you gonna do about Megabyte?" Bob pointed to the sky and said, "That looks like the Med Team now, and about Megabyte, there doesn't seem to be much I can do. First we have to find out why Megabyte wants Frisket. Unfortunately, I can't work on it right this minute." Just then the Med Team swooped down and began putting Frisket in the ambulance. As Enzo was climbing into the ambulance to go with them, Bob said, "Now, Enzo, do your sister a favor and stay out of her hair until later, okay? Find yourself a place where there isn't any trouble." He slammed the ambulance door shut and it took off for the hospital.  
  
***  
  
Dusk was falling on Mainframe as Enzo sat next to a bandaged Frisket on the balcony of his and Dot's apartment. Once Frisket had been declared, "good as just compiled", Enzo had decided that they should just go home; Frisket needed to rest, and besides, it was the best place where he wouldn't "get into trouble." An hour later, Bob's warning still echoed in his head. "A place where there isn't any trouble," Enzo said. "Do you think there really is such a place, Frisket?" He paused, but the dog gave no reply. "If there is, its far away from here, that you can bet," Enzo continued. He sighed. "Frisket, I remember a way long time ago when mom was still alive she used to sing to me a song about a wonderful place. How did it go?" He thought for a moment, digging deep into his memory bank. "Oh, yeah," he said suddenly. "Behind the moon...beyond the rain...and...and...over the rainbow. That's where all your dreams come true, Frisket. At least that's what she said. I wish she was here. I bet she would help me, not just think I'm unimportant, like everyone else does." He sighed again and looked back out at the multicolored sky.  
  
Suddenly that sky was marred as four viral henchman climbed over the railing of the balcony, guns at point-blank range. Enzo cried out and was immediately on his feet and running for the door, pulling Frisket up and along with him. He could feel the heat of the energy bullets all around him, but miraculously, he wasn't wounded badly, only singed. (Looking back on that, Enzo would decide the virals had probably been instructed not to hurt Frisket.) Enzo threw open the front door only to find 6 more virals already there, armed, of course. Thinking quickly, Enzo grabbed his zipboard from its place by the door and dashed down the hallway to his room. He slammed and locked the door. He let go of Frisket and shoved his window open. He opened his zipboard and dropped it outside his window, just below the sill. He picked up Frisket in his arms (no small feat) and sort- of putting him over his shoulder, carefully climbed out the window, landing his feet on his zipboard. Unfortunately, this required one to go a bit slow so as not to fall to one's death, and the virals blasted through Enzo's door before he was completely out the window. They rushed at him and Enzo, taking a chance, pushed himself all the way out. He was unsteady for a moment, and the world spun as he looked down. He felt a stinging in his arm and realized the virals were shooting at him; the pain brought him back to reality and he quickly regained his balance and sped off, dog-over- shoulder, into the darkening city.  
  
***  
  
Enzo landed in Lost Angles. He put Frisket down and said to him, "We have to hide. We can't go home, they'll be waiting and even if they're not, they'll try again and next time, we might not be this lucky. Bob and Dot won't be any help. They don't care about us! We have to do this one on our own. Oh, Frisket, what would I do if they took you away? You're my best friend!" Enzo had tears in his eyes and his voice had become rather choked up. He took a moment to collect himself, then continued. "We'll stay in Lost Angles. The virals will have trouble finding us here, probably won't even look here, 'cause they're afraid of Hex, and here we won't be any trouble to anyone." Just then Enzo felt a bit of wind brushing his hair, but instead of feeling nice, it sent shivers down his spine. He looked around him, but there was no one there. Frisket whined, his voice confirming for Enzo something wasn't right. The wind came again and suddenly Enzo felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around to find Hexadecimal standing tall, wearing her confused mask. "What is little one doing on Hexy's island?" Hexadecimal queried. She waved her hand over her face and a nuetral mask appeared. Putting her finger on her chin thoughtfully, she said, "Let Hexy guess...little one and big dog are running away?"  
  
"Yes, " Enzo answered. "How did you know?"  
  
Hex displayed her evil smile for a moment. "Hexy knows lots, " was her only reply. She giggled and then put the confused face back on. "But why? Would not little one and his dog be better protected from Hexy's dear brother at the principal office under care of old one, big one, and blue one?" Enzo shook his head. "They don't care about me. I'd just be making trouble. They won't protect Frisket, so I'm doing it myself. I hate them all, " he finished viciously. Hex was silent for a moment, then said, "Strange. Strange. No, no, no. Hexy does not understand. Please come with Hexy and explain." Before Enzo could answer, a wormhole opened up in the ground right under their feet and he and Frisket were quickly wisked down into Hex's lair.  
  
Enzo and Frisket found themselves in total darkness, and a strange darkness at that. It seemed deep and never-ending. Suddenly a light appeared and grew brighter, until Enzo could see Hexadecimal, Scuzzy, and Hex's mirror. Where the light was coming from was not clear. Enzo was about to ask about it, but Hex summoned him over to her. "Watch," was her only word as she waved her hand near the mirror and a scene began to play. There was Dot, on her zipboard with a flashlight, flying around in the night and calling out, "ENZO! FRISKET! WHERE ARE YOU?" Tears were in her eyes and her voice was strained and shaky. Just as Dot flew around a corner, a viral ABC (apparently also looking for Enzo and Frisket) came rushing at her. Dot had no time to react and could only stand there, deer-caught-in-headlights, as the ABC flew at her. Enzo began to scream, "Dot! Dot! Look out! DOT! MOVE!!" As if she had heard him, at the last second, Dot started to move out of the way and wasn't hit head on. She was still hit incredibly hard, however, and was falling as the mirror suddenly went black. "NO!" Enzo cried out. "Its all my fault! Its all my fault! Oh, I have to get home, I have to get to her, and make sure she's all right! Oh, this is all my fault, all my fault! If I hadn't run away, she wouldn't have been out there and, and--" The boy turned imploringly to Hex. "Please, I--" "Of course," murmured Hex and waved her hand. Enzo once again found himself on a lonely street in Lost Angles next to his zipboard. "C'mon, Frisket, we have to get to Dot!" The dog nodded in agreement. Enzo looked skyward and said, "Oh, User, please, please let her be alright! I didn't mean it, I didn't mean any of it! I don't hate her, I love her! Oh please! Don't let her go like mom did!" Enzo carefully picked up his dog and they flew up and in the direction of the hospital.  
  
***  
  
In his rush to get to Dot, Enzo had forgotten about stealth. He was about halfway to the hospital when he found himself surrounded by virals. He yelled a word Dot didn't even know he knew in frustration and again began to swerve in and out, up and down, left and right, trying desperately to quickly lose them. These virals were smarter than the last batch, however, and even in the dark, he couldn't shake them. Finally he turned down a narrow alley, lined on both sides with apartment buildings. The ABC's couldn't fit into the alley to chase him, but they could box him in from overhead, Enzo realized too late as the already dark world became blacker. The only light he could see was at the end of newly-made tunnel. 'Maybe I can make it out and around the corner before they can get there' he thought. Hoping against hope, he flew as fast as he could toward the light. Just as he reached the end and was thinking, ' I made it' a CPU appeared. With no time to think (or stop), Enzo stuck to his original plan and, without losing momentum, turned right. Unfortunately, he had not completely cleared the last building and his turn wasn't wide enough to miss it. He first heard his head hit the corner of the building. A second later, his brain reacted and exploded in blinding pain. The world around him dissolved and became opaque.  
  
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